Creators are freaking out as YouTube blocks ads on channels with less than 10000 views

Well, you better have a backup plan while you grow your YouTube audience. YouTube has announced that all channels with less than 10 000 lifetime video views will no longer be served ads and therefore the creator will not be able to generate revenue from those ads.

As soon as the YouTube channel reaches the 10 000 threshold, the creator can apply to the YouTube Partner Program. At that point, the channel will be reviewed and if the content doesn’t violet the YouTube policies, then the ads will be activated.

Of course, some YouTubers are not happy about losing their ads and therefore their income but when you do the calculation, its really isn’t a big deal. A rough formula to work on is that the YouTube Content Creator earns $5 for every 1000 views on a video and therefore there is no “real money” to be made when the entire channel has less than 10 000 views…

How do people make money on YouTube?

Content Creators who use YouTube as a platform don’t rely on the ad-revenue. Creators usually work with brands on paid-for projects, brand campaigns, speaking engagements, affiliate marketing, ambassadors, and events; all of these carry a fee. Depending on the celebrity status of the YouTuber, this could be less than $100 up to tens of thousands dollars. Those who can demand the upper figures will typically have videos that generate millions of views per month as an additional revenue.

Why the Ad Block YouTube?

While YouTube did not officially say so, it would seem that YouTube implemented this new rule in the wake of large brands pulling their advertising revenue out of the platform. The Times found that ads from large brands were running on hate-speech and exteremist content which resulted in 250 advertisers suspending their ads with Google. Brands such as AT&T, General Motors, Verizon, Walmart, and Johnson & Johnson are said to collectively make up 7.5 percent of total United States ad spend!

Brands now demand assurance that their ads will not be displayed on “less favorable” channels and websites such as the right wing, pornography, fake news, and ISIS recruitment content before they resume their ad-spend.

The 10 000 views as a starting point will reduce the number of channels that the human Googlers have to review, however, it could also mean that unless a channel is reported as inappropriate, that channel might go unnoticed for longer….

Google, like other social media networks, has a tricky balancing act of allowing freedom of speech, while not allowing hate speech while being open to anyone to become a creator while keeping their advertising revenue flowing….that’s a lot of balancing to do.